The state of expense splitting in 2025.

Gone are the days of awkwardly scrambling for cash or doing mental math at the restaurant. In today’s digital era, expense-splitting apps have transformed group spending from a source of stress into a streamlined, even fun, experience. In this post, we explore what these apps offer, where they sometimes miss the mark, and why new players like KttiPay and Beam are turning heads.

Splitwise's Rise & Current State

Founded in 2011 in Providence, RI, Splitwise began as a simple rent-splitting calculator created by Jonathan Bittner, Marshall Weir, and Ryan Laughlin. What started as a side project quickly evolved into an app for managing all shared expenses, from group trips to household bills, winning over users with its commitment to “quantitative fairness.”

Today, Splitwise lets users create groups, add expenses in multiple currencies, and choose equal or customized splits, all from a cloud-based platform available on mobile and web. Its premium version, Splitwise Pro, adds advanced features like receipt scanning, automatic transaction imports, detailed reports, and integrated payment options.

Despite its popularity, Splitwise has notable limitations. The app lacks group payment cards and doesn’t perform automatic transfers between users, settlement must occur via third-party services like Venmo or PayPal. Additionally, many advanced features (such as receipt scanning and currency conversion) are locked behind a paid subscription.

Split expenses with friends.

Splitwise is a free tool for friends and roommates to track bills and other shared expenses, so that everyone gets paid back. On the web, iPhone, and Android!

Splitwise

New Kids On The Block

Beam

Standing out through its deep integration with the New Payments Platform (NPP), enabling instant payments directly via users’ debit cards. It pairs this capability with modern visual budgeting tools, offering clear insights into group spending with smart notifications and customizable alerts.

KttiPay

Differentiating itself as a shared digital wallet designed specifically for group spending. By allowing users to pre-load funds into a communal “kitty” and use an integrated digital Visa debit card for payments, KttiPay eliminates the need for post-event reimbursements.

KttiPay

Tricount

An expense-splitting app renowned for its simplicity, offline functionality, and support for multiple currencies. In addition to its core features of recording shared expenses and calculating balances, Tricount now sets itself apart by offering a free Visa credit card. This card—quick to activate and easily added to Apple Pay or Google Pay—enables users to automatically track and settle expenses at the point of payment, further streamlining group financial management.

Simplify Group Expenses | Tricount

Tricount makes group expense sharing a breeze. Track, split, and settle shared costs effortlessly—all in one app.

Tricount

What the future holds

I believe that the future of expense splitting is set to be changed by automation, driven by advancements in both data integration and payment systems. With frameworks like the Consumer Data Right (CDR) unlocking seamless access to transactional data and the New Payments Platform (NPP) enabling real‑time transfers for a very low cost.

Hopefully, these technologies will remove a lot of the burden associated with using these apps, making group financial management smoother, faster, and more reliable.